The Cave Official Series 4: Glowing Hope
by shadowglove
Summary: Sequel to "Exit Speed". When someone from Chloe's past asks for her help, she is conflicted, not only about the job but about her relationship with Lex. With time running out does she really want to waste the precious time they have together?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/The New Daughter**

_**Sequel to**_: Exit Speed

Chapter 1/4

Warning: Spoilers for The New Daughter. Takes place right after the movie.

Written for My Paranormal25 150 Prompt Table. Prompt Used #87. Famous Paranormal Case.

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Looking around the remains of what must have been a proud and homey place once upon a time ago, Chloe picked up a broken frame from the ground. In this frame was a picture of a man, his fourteen year old daughter, and eight year old son. There was also a smiling woman, dark hair, blue eyes, smiling lips. His wife.

The one who'd asked Chloe to come here and investigate.

Taking in a deep breath, Chloe put the frame with the broken glass on the remains of the sofa and looked around. "What happened here?"

"It seems like a creature attack." Lois replied, walking in, hands on her hips and face made into a sneer. "The place _reeks_ something bad too." Her eyes were large and ruby red, the only thing that betrayed the fact that she wasn't completely human anymore. "Whatever it was that attacked this place, there were a _lot_ of them, and they were _intent_ on getting what they came for."

Chloe frowned, eyes shifting gold as she surveyed the damage with the eyes of her inner monster. "But why only this house? There are other houses not so far way from here. Why _this_ one?"

"I found something interesting out back." Another voice joined them, as Lex Luthor entered through the kitchen, dusting his shirt off. "It looks like what's left of a Native American Burial Mound."

"What's left of?" Lois raised an eyebrow.

"Someone bombed it, apparently." Lex replied, leaning against the wall.

"That's a little extreme." Lois murmured, eyes narrowing. "Where exactly is the mound?"

"A little ways out back...at the mouth of the forest." Lex replied.

Chloe frowned. "Native American Burial Mounds have had a lot of different legends associated with them."

"Creature legends?" Lois guessed, eyeing the claw marks on the doorway.

The blonde nodded.

"Right. Good thing I brought my toys!" Lois grinned brightly, tapping her Predator Combo Spear, which she always wore on a hook on her belt. "I'm going to go make sure my other babies are all secure and ready for some fun!"

And with that she sauntered out.

Chloe smiled slightly, amused with her cousin.

That smile slowly melted from her face and Chloe sighed one more, hugging herself as she looked out of the window.

"Are you sure you want to handle this personally?" Lex asked, coming up behind her and placing his hand at the small of her back, looking out of the window as well. "If this is too much for you to handle, I will have a group of my best men handle this. I have them on speed dial and stationed close by just in case."

"Why would this be too much for me to handle?" Chloe asked, taking in a deep breath.

"Because the mother who abandoned you as a kid just appeared in your life all of a sudden to ask you to investigate the disappearance of her other family. Of the family she made after leaving you." Lex growled, protectiveness in his voice as his hand rose to cup the round of her shoulder. "It would be overwhelming a situation for anyone."

Chloe smiled.

Trust Lex to be more worried about her when there was a very strong possibility that there were some hungry, angry creatures hiding around them.

The blonde leaned her head against the inner curve of his shoulder. "I'm fine." Her gaze went back to the sofa...to the picture there. "I-I'm just finding it hard to believe that I had half-siblings, and I only find out after they're _dead_."

"You don't know that." Lex murmured.

"Yes, I do." She looked up at him. "You've seen the state of this place, Lex. You _know_ that whatever attacked them wouldn't have let them live."

He sighed and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

She closed her eyes and accepted the comfort he offered.

They'd stayed like that, in silence, just soaking in the other's touch, before finally Chloe sighed and turned to him. "It'll soon be nightfall. We should head back to the town, get some rest, and maybe research a little before coming back tomorrow morning."

"We can stay a little longer if you like." Lex offered.

"No, we need our rest." Chloe replied, leading him out of the house.

Of course, both knew that when she said 'we' she meant 'he'.

Chloe and Lois were both mutants who had stronger resistance and such than humans.

But Lex was sick, so very sick...and was using his mutation to keep her from healing him because he was worried that by doing so she'd lose her healing abilities forever.

One might forget it sometimes because of how Lex refused to be weak and show how in pain or uncomfortable he was, but Chloe wouldn't allow herself to forget. It was a miracle that he was this strong and this able, and she wasn't going to let him exert himself too much. So they were going to go get a nice room, have him sleep and rest, and they'd come back first light to have a better look of the land. That burial ground was extremely intriguing in itself.

Lois drove the hummer back to the town and they got rooms at the best little bed and breakfast they could find.

Lex offered to help with research, but Chloe ordered him to his room to sleep, and he grudgingly obeyed.

Lois hadn't been much help, conking out as soon as her head hit the pillow of the room she shared with Chloe.

Chloe, on the other hand, was unable to sleep, so she spent most of the night researching.

She found out that her mother had failed to tell her that the reason she hadn't been there when everything had gone down was because she'd left yet another family she'd help create, and that she and John James were going to get a divorce. The children, Louisa and Sam, were in the custody of their father. Apparently Moira hadn't fought for custody at all.

Louisa and Sam...the names alone betrayed that Moira had missed her birth family after parting all ties with them. Why else name her daughter an altered version of her niece's name, and name her son after her brother?

Chloe wondered if Moira had missed _her_ at all.

Moira hadn't gotten into contact with her _at all_ until she'd come to her at LexCorp yesterday begging her help.

Chloe had to admit that seeing her mother again after all these years had brought up so many well buried emotions.

Especially rage.

And the feeling that she was inadequate.

Then again, her mother apparently was just the type of person who bailed on family.

Shaking her head, Chloe continued her research, finding out that before the James family had bought the house and land the previous owner, a woman, had disappeared without a trace before locking her daughter in her room. And then apparently the daughter, after being rescued, had been sent to live with her grandfather and then had died in a suspicious house fire. And then when John James, Louisa, and Sam had come to live here, the babysitter had disappeared (only to be found in the entrance of the mound when John James had tried to have it bulldozed) and while the police had at first suspected John James himself of the crime the autopsy had proved that she'd been eaten...alive.

The night the sheriff was taking John back to the house, the sheriff had disappeared, blood being found in his side of the police vehicle, and John, Louisa, and Sam had disappeared forever. Their house had been destroyed, and the mound had been been set on fire.

No one from the town came by this way.

Somehow, it all led back to the mound.

So she researched Native American Burial Mounds.

There were a lot of topics on the internet about these mounds, but what caught her eye was a specific legend.

The Mound Walkers...which were apparently a very paranormal topic in the folk-anthropologic circles.

Feeling tiredness descending on her, Chloe put the Mound Walker legends to print on her portable printer, and headed to bed.

Her dreams were nightmares of herself as a child, hugging herself, crying for a mother who didn't want her.

Needless to say, when she woke up Chloe was far from refreshed, but she pushed back her own memories and insecurities and continued focused on the job, finding more legends about Mound Walkers.

And then she found the legends that spoke of the Mound Walkers waiting for a human child, a female child, with whom to procreate and further their race.

That was when she started feeling ill.

The two cases of things happening in that house involved two young girls.

"Sonsofbitches!" Chloe snapped, standing, running her hand over her hair.

She'd just finished reading what the Mound Walkers did to the female girl chosen to 'save' their race by becoming their 'queen'. There was a ritual that was vague on some aspects of the preparation and such for the girl, but other points were disgustingly clear...like the fact that gang rape was one of the first steps.

If they'd gotten to the first girl, then it would make sense that the mother had locked the girl in the room...and then she would have disappeared because she would have been keeping the creatures from their goal.

And if they hadn't been able to finish whatever it was they'd been trying to do with the annoying vague rituals in claiming the girl...then they would have gone after Louisa.

A fourteen year old.

Closing her eyes in horror and disgust, Chloe sat down on her bed once more, wondering if the process had been finalized this time or if the fact that the burial mound had been bombed proved that John James had figured out what had happened and preferred to sacrifice them all then let his daughter live that terrible fate.

Or maybe that poor child was somewhere in the underground world that must be accessed by the burial mound...being used as a breeding tool by a denizen of monsters.

The thought sickened Chloe to the core and she rushed to the bathroom to bathe, donning her clothes and boots, putting up her hair in a tight bun. She shook Lois roughly before going to the trunk they'd brought in with them, going over the guns and such, choosing which ones she'd be taking with her.

"What's wrong?" Lois murmured, half asleep, hair covering her face.

"They steal a girl to _breed_ with-the creatures that live inside of the burial mound." Chloe turned to her cousin. "The whole colony are males, and they _all _breed with _one _female, human child."

Lois sat up immediately, nausea on her face, all sleepiness gone. "_What_?"

"Louisa might be alive, Lois." Chloe's movements were jerky, frantic. "She might be captive in some dwelling under the ground and being raped by those things! She's only _fourteen_."

"_Fuckdammit_." Lois hissed, jolting out of bed and to her feet, racing towards the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

Chloe hurried to Lex's room, knocking on the door, impatient.

The door opened to show Lex in nothing but his boxers, very much awake, probably having been in the middle of yoga when she'd interrupted. "Is everything alright?"

Chloe found her throat dry, unable to keep her eyes from spanning that alabaster white skin, body slender and yet with discreet evidence of muscles right where they needed to be.

Lex eyed her in confusion for a moment, before realization tilted his lips into a smirk as he rested a hip against the doorframe. "Uh, _Chloe_? You came here because?"

"Oh, right." Clearing her throat, looking away, Chloe fought a blush. "I found out what happened."

That smirk turned into a grim line. "Come inside."

Walking passed him, Chloe took in a deep breath and sat down on his bed, telling him everything that she'd discovered.

Lex listened in tense silence, and the second she was done he was on the phone calling in the swat team he'd had stationed nearby just in case they were needed. When he finished the phone call, he turned to her. "They'll be at the burial mound within the hour, which will give us time to get ready, to eat, and be there as well."

Chloe nodded silently.

He sighed, coming towards her, bending on his knees in front of her, reaching up with his hand to cup her cheek, their gazes mixing "If she's there, we'll find her."

"I know." Chloe sighed, leaning into his hand, eyes closing.

A purr escaped her as his thumb caressed her cheek soothingly, always knowing what to do to calm her. "It's just that-it reminds me so much about what happened to me-in the cave." She gulped. "I was so scared-and they never got to do anything to me. If she's alive-there-..."

"If she's anything like you she'll be fine." Lex whispered. "I don't know what to say about your mother-but at least the latest generations of females in her family are _incredible_." He made a face. "Just don't tell Lois I said that. It'll go to her head and she'll never let me live it down."

A small smile tilted Chloe's lips and she opened her now golden eyes, connecting with his baby blues. "Thanks."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Go get something to eat, I'll bathe."

She hesitated, grabbing his hand when he stood. "Maybe...maybe you should stay."

The young billionaire sent her a glare. "Chloe..."

"Lex..." She looked up at him, pleadingly. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I can take care of myself." Lex replied curtly.

"But if something happened to you-." Chloe's voice broke.

Lex's glare melted into a tender smile as he bent down on his knees once more, cupping her face. "My time to go isn't here yet." His eyes searched hers. "You still need me to take care of you, and there's no way I'm going anywhere knowing that."

A lump formed in Chloe's throat, her eyes filling with tears she tried valiantly to fight as she brought her hand to cover the one he had cupping her cheek, the blonde leaning into the touch nearly desperately.

She didn't say anything.

She _couldn't_ say anything.

Not when her throat was so constricted.

But the thing is she didn't _need_ to say anything.

Not when he _already knew_.

Had always known.

Lex's thumb brushed away the lone tear that made its way down her cheek, and he brought the droplet to his lips, licking it as he stood and walked towards the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Chloe looked dazedly at the bathroom door, before taking in a deep breath and standing, heading out to have breakfast as he wanted her to.

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**Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/The New Daughter**

_**Sequel to**_: Exit Speed

Warning: Spoilers for The New Daughter.

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The rest of the team other than Chloe and Lois wore night vision helmets, the blonde and brunette having no use for them, their eyes seeing things better in darkness than in daylight anyway.

Annabel, who was about the only person other than Mr. Vargas that Chloe kept in contact with after the bus incident in Texas (Mr. Vargas now worked for Lexcorp), had called to let them know that the special equipment Lex had ordered be sent to them for this mission was on the way and should arrive around half and hour after they did. The sixteen year old twelfth tier dark elf ranger had failed to tell Chloe during their time together in Texas that while she _was_ heading towards one of her much beloved Live Action Role Playing Convention to participate in an archery contest amongst other things...that she'd actually run away from her sixth foster home to do so.

A part of the system, Annabel Drake had bounced from foster home to foster home since she was eleven, and had immersed herself in LARPing as a way to get away from her real life problems.

The LARPing had led her to be on that bus along with Chloe, in that situation with Chloe, and in the end, Chloe had become her next guardian-as her previous foster home was fed up with her, and there were only two years to go before Annabel turned eighteen. Thanks to her high salary job and low maintenance lifestyle Chloe could be considered kinda rich, and the agency had overlooked her age and the fact that she wasn't married, and had let her take over Annabel's foster care.

The girl with the multiple colored streaks in her hair had happily gone to live with Chloe, and had integrated herself impressively easily into their lives.

She could be a cute brat though, like when she called Chloe 'mom', Lex 'dad', and Lois 'Aunt Lo'...although the others weren't that much older than her themselves.

Between Annabel and Lois, Lex was near a nervous break down...although Chloe knew that if anyone placed a finger on _either_ he'd have their balls.

The equipment finally arrived, let down in a parachute box from the jet above, and the SWAT team went to retrieve it.

Lois didn't pay the newly arrived weapons and equipment any mind, checking her toys and their holsters, making sure everything was firmly in place. Her pride and joy, the Predator Combo Spear, was in its miniature form, strapped to her arm, ready to be pulled out and used when the time came.

Lex too carried an assortment of guns, and a katana hanging from his lean hips, should he run out of bullets.

Chloe had already checked her guns and now clenched and flexed her fingerless leather gloves with the material removed from her palm area.

When she'd been taken to the Predator Space Craft she'd been infused with an alien metal that had bonded with her body...or, well, after breaking every bone in her body _very_ painfully, the metal had replaced the bone. Her skeleton was now made of that unbreakable, unidentifiable metal, and her heart was completely shielded by a thick barrier of it as well. The process of combining with the alien metal had been the most painful thing she'd ever undergone, but it'd left her stronger than before...and with some extra little abilities.

Concentrating, Chloe grabbed at one of her palms and pulled out a golden light, which emerged painlessly from her palm and formed a golden, glowing long bow. And from her other palm a golden, glowing arrow emerged.

Putting arrow to bow, Chloe pulled back the golden string of light and let go, the arrow embedding itself deep into a new tree before vanishing away, the only evidence of it having hit was the wound of the arrowhead in the tree's bark.

Annabel, the true archer, had taught Chloe the basics, and the blonde had to admit that this was probably one of her favorite of the forms the weapons took.

"Ready whenever you are, Mister Luthor." Carter, the SWAT team leader, announced, going to Lex.

He nodded.

Carter turned to his men. "Alright men! It's party time!"

Chloe watched as the men slowly climbed down in through the opening at the burial mound, one by one, using the rope ladder they'd thrown down.

Her instincts screamed for her to go first, but this was Lex's team and he called the shots.

When the other men were all down (except for the four who'd be standing watch at the mouth of the mound), Lois bypassed the ladder and merely jumped down, and Lex climbed down behind her.

Chloe hesitated, hearing a twig snapping somewhere in the forest around them.

Eyes going feline, she snarled, sniffing the air, unable to scent anything but dirt.

Shaking her head, the blonde jumped down into the hole, landing on the balls of her feet between Lex and Lois, both surrounded by the SWAT men, their guns drawn.

There were four different tunnels leading out into the darkness.

Carter motioned to four of his men. "You guard these entrances. Shoot anything that tries to come out."

They nodded.

The rest of the team split up, Chloe and Lois joining Lex and six other of the SWAT team, heading down the one to the extreme right.

Lois had picked up a scent she found intriguing in that tunnel and they'd decided to follow it and see where it led.

The tunnel was completely dark, making it brightly lit for Chloe's feline vision, lighting up brighter than a sunny day.

The scents of creatures was intense, and she fought the urge to cover her nose.

She wondered how it was for Lois, whose ability to scent things was much greater than her own.

But the brunette up front didn't seem to mind, then again, she might be blocking out the other scents and concentrating on the one that intrigued her.

She'd confessed to being able to do that, and it fascinated Chloe.

"There's zero movement ahead of us." One of the men announced softly.

"No sign of life." A second agreed.

"I know." Lois murmured. "Something's not right."

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire echoed loudly from one of the other tunnels.

They stopped, looking back the way they'd come.

Another group of gunfire joined.

And another.

"Go!" The soldier behind them urged.

They hurried down the vein, guns ready, and finally emptied out onto the ledge around a gigantic chasm.

Lois gasped. "Oh my god."

Pushing passed the men, Chloe went to the front, her eyes widening at what she saw below.

It was a _city_.

Crude dwellings had been carved into the very stone, clearly not fashioned by human hand or intelligence, but something else.

"We're going to need more guns." Lois mumbled.

Lex reached their side and gaze down, using his helmet with night vision to survey what Lois and Chloe could see as plain as day. "Try to raise the others on the radio." He ordered one soldier before turning to another. "Place the bomb there at the entrance of the tunnel. If all else fails we'll blow this place to hell."

"Yes sir." The soldiers nodded, doing as told.

"So girls?" Lex turned to them. "See anything we can't?"

"I don't know about _seeing_, but I can definitely _smell_ something you can't." Lois took a deep whiff. "It's some sort of natural gas, not methane, something else. It doesn't seem lethal since Chloe and I aren't feeling anything, but you and your boys better keep on your helmets just in case."

"You can smell _methane_?" Chloe asked, impressed.

Lois grinned brightly. "Yep, every 'odorless' gas and such has an oder but we're just not able to pick it up. Or, well, _you guys_ aren't able to pick it up." She patted the tip of her nose, winking. "I am."

Sensing movement, they looked up to see the rest of the team, relatively untouched, arriving at the mouths of the other veins, placing bombs at the mouths as well.

"I don't see any movement down there." Lex gazed down at the underground city. "Maybe John James found a way to destroy the creatures?"

"No, the scents in there were fresh...made only hours ago." Lois shook her head. "And your boys had to be shooting at _something_."

"Then why didn't these things react to the sound of the gunfire?" Lex wanted to know.

"Maybe they're deaf?" Lois asked. "Maybe they're like the creatures Chloe encountered in the cave in Romania-they see like bats, sending out sound vibrations and such?"

"Maybe." Lex murmured.

"Or maybe this is a trap and they're luring us in." Chloe countered, eyes narrowed on the city below.

"No offense ma'am, but these are animals." One of the soldiers announced. "No way they're that smart."

Chloe turned to him, eyes flashing in the darkness. "I'm that smart."

The soldier looked uncomfortable behind his visor. "You're not an animal."

"That remains to be debated." She declared before going to the edge of the ledge they were on and looking down, two golden daggers appearing in her hands as she jumped down and sunk them into the cliff, halting her fall.

The blonde looked up in time to see Lex and Lois rush to the edge and looked down at her.

"Dammit Chloe!" Lex hissed. "Don't _do_ that to me!"

Lois' nails grew long and she followed Chloe's example, limber and agile like a cat. "There's a clearing a little below where it's not as steep. Throw the rope once we get down and you guys can easily make it down."

Chloe was already going downwards, slower than Lois though, using the daggers to keep herself from falling, gaining footing whenever she could.

Lois reached below before her, and had finished tying it to a boulder by the time she found footing.

The men made their way down, leaving two above to cover the ledge.

The other teams did the same, and they met each other behind the boulders outside of the city of stones, regrouping to form one team.

"Everything's way too silent." Lois mumbled. "I can smell them but I don't see any movement at all."

"Trap." Chloe concluded.

Carter readied his weapon. "We're ready for them."

Chloe doubted it, but she gave him an A+ for confidence.

Lois reached for the double rifle strapped to her back and pulled it out, smirking. "It's rude to leave our hosts waiting."

As a tight unit they moved from the boulders and silently entered into the city. Nothing seemed to be inside of the crude dwellings they came across.

Nothing seemed to be anywhere.

It all seemed...dead.

Chloe and Lois shared looks, eyes narrowed.

The hairs rising on the back of their necks were the only proof that something was there with them.

The team continued forwards.

Suddenly a loud, shrill, clearly inhuman sound echoed through the city, seeming to originate from _everywhere_.

And that was when they attacked.

From seemingly everywhere.

All at once.

Like a mass of ants.

They were the height of most of the men in the team, some standing stall on two feet others charging on all four.

Chloe doubted the others could see as well as her, couldn't tell that while they were humanoid in shape, these creatures were still far from human.

Their bodies looked almost as if they'd been made out of mud that was still wet, shiny. She could make out eye sockets but not eyes themselves, instead endless blackness. And the mouth...the mouth was rounder and sported long and sharp fangs.

Chloe reached behind her and pulled out her Benelli SuperNova Tactical from the strap across her back and pumped it, letting off her first shot, nailing the creature that'd jumped at her in the forehead.

Finally...

...An outlet for the bad mood that'd been growing since her mother had returned into her life-and had only gotten worse once she'd realized what had happened to her mother's new family.

If Moira's husband, son, and new daughter had perished at the hands of these creatures, the old daughter was going to make them regret it.

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**Review?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/The New Daughter**

_**Sequel to**_: Exit Speed

Warning: Spoilers for The New Daughter.

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The battle raged viciously, neither side having a clear advantage over the other.

While the humans had the firepower, the creatures had the numbers, and ferocity.

Chloe found herself distracted, her attention not only on the creatures, but on Lex and Lois as well, eyes always finding them in the chaos in worry. The two were keeping up, firing their guns and reloading whenever necessary, but soon they'd run out of ammo and things would get even more complicated.

Seriously though, where did all of these creatures come from?

They were _everywhere_!

"Chloe!" Lois reached her side. "That scent! I smell it again!" Her fangs had descended in the heat of the battle. "I think it's human...but its _different_."

"_Louisa_." Chloe whispered, looking up at her cousin. "Can you get me to her?"

Lois nodded. "But we have to go _now_. The scent-something's _wrong_."

Chloe nodded, eyes searching for Lex. "Lex!"

He fired a succession of gunshots, sending multiple creatures flying back, before turning to her.

"Lois might have picked up on Louisa!" Chloe called.

"Go!" Lex ordered. "We got it here!"

Chloe hesitated, not wanting to leave him, but finally nodded and turned to Lois. "Take me to her."

"Follow me." Lois nodded, turning and firing, clearing the way, before racing ahead.

Shooting all creatures around them, Chloe followed behind Lois, trusting her and her superior sense of smell.

She grew disoriented though, zigzagging around the different dwellings, running as fast as their legs would take them.

The sound of gunfire and creatures shrieking and growling grew dimmer, proving that they were putting a little distance between them and the battle.

That worried Chloe, but she continued on, wondering whether to feel wary or relieved by the fact that there were no more creatures around her and Lois...or even following them.

Lois skidded to a stop in front of the open entrance of one of the hut. "There. The scent is coming from in there."

"Stand guard out here. If anything comes..."

"Shoot its balls." Lois nodded. "I know."

Smirking, Chloe slammed the new magazines up into her two Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm before training them in front of her, entering the hut, not sure what to expect once she did. The blonde's golden, feline eyes darted all around the large, hollowed out interior, making sure the room was clear before venturing in deeper, into the thicker darkness of the inner chambers. It was deep within that she came upon the trembling, crying body of the young child caught in mid-transformation, half human, half creature-almost dead.

And yet, it wasn't the child she'd been expecting.

"_Sam?"_ Racing towards her 8 year old half brother, Chloe fell to her knees and put down her guns, horrified.

The boy was naked, half unconscious, body trembling violently.

All over him were a series of bite makes that spanned his entire body, obviously from where the creatures had bitten him, injecting him with the venom that would start the transformation they had desired in his sister.

This was why they didn't just take children to make into them.

Only a healthy female could completely transformation.

Sam was obviously dying.

"No no no..." Chloe whispered, shaking her head, refusing to believe this. "It's not your time!"

She couldn't heal others anymore, her mutation having, for no good reason, shut off when it came to healing others. She could still heal herself, but it was slower.

And even if she still could heal others, her powers had already proven themselves to be useless when it came to human/monster mutation and transformation.

Sam cried out in pain.

Chloe gulped.

What could she do?

She had to be able to do something!

This-this was her little _brother_!

Tears filled her eyes, the image of Jack McAlister superimposing itself onto Sam in her mind, the similarities of the situation overwhelming and depressingly similar.

Suddenly, Chloe's eyes widened, remembering the only thing that'd prevented Jack from fully transforming while in that cave in Romania-the only thing that'd helped him until his mutation had won over and he'd made that deal with Weyland, being placed into cryosleep, half-human, half-something else...until they could find a cure.

Pulling out her Outcast hunting knife from its case, which was strapped to her calf, Chloe sliced a long, deep gash in her inner wrist and brought her wound to his mouth, cradling the back of Sam's head and rising it so that his lips met her skin.

"Come on," Chloe whispered, moving so that she was cradling his half deformed body on her lap, watching his throat work as he swallowed to keep from drowning in the blood. "Come on."

The blood had only been a very temporary fix for Jack, only containing his mutation enough for him to have a mediocre amount of control of it...

...but Sam had half of her DNA.

Chloe closed her eyes, holding him tight, praying to anyone who might be listening.

"_Please_."

Unbeknownst to her, eyes closed tight, a lone tear made its way down her cheek and hovered momentarily at the edge of her chin before falling through the air and hitting Sam in his forehead. The tear soaked into his pores and traveled through his body, lighting it up in a faint glow, before fading into nothing.

The deformed side of Sam's body, the monster side, began to spasm.

Chloe's eyes opened, looking down at him, worried. "Sam?"

His dark, mud-like skin began to crack open like a dried husk, falling away from his body.

Like a snake shedding skin, the creature's side of Sam's body _slipped off_, revealing the healthy, unblemished, human body beneath.

Chloe looked down, eyes wide, unable to understand what'd happened.

His eyes opened, eyelashes fluttering, sleepy and confused. "Who are you?"

She held back tears, smiling shakily down at him. "That's not important right now. We're going to get you out of here. That's all that matters."

His eyes widened and he suddenly shot up, sitting. "There are monsters! They dragged me into the mound and-!"

"I know honey, and we came to rescue you." Chloe whispered, standing and helping him up as well, taking off her leather jacket and putting it on him to cover his nakedness, before picking up her guns and putting them in their holsters. "Sam, do you remember what happened to your father and sister? Are they here?"

His green eyes lowered to the ground, filling with tears as he shook his head. "They're not here."

They were dead.

Chloe closed her eyes with a deep breath before opening them, offering her hand. "Come."

He looked at her hand before placing his in hers trustingly.

Pulling out one of the Wesson & Smiths, Chloe tightened her hold on his hand and led him out of the dwelling, gun first.

Lois turned when they exited, eyes wide. "The _kid_?"

Chloe nodded, looking down at Sam as he huddled behind her. "Which is the closest exit?"

Lois opened her mouth before suddenly turning and shooting once, the bullet embedding itself between the eyes of the creature that'd snuck up on them.

It fell, dead.

Smirking, Lois turned to point east. "There."

"Can you get him there and out safely?" Chloe asked.

The brunette nodded. "Yeah. I'm almost out of ammo though."

"Here." Chloe passed her cousin her remaining weapons before turning to Sam. "She's going to keep you safe, okay?"

He nodded.

"Help him onto my back." Lois announced. "We'll go faster that way and I'll have my hands free in case something tries to get in the way."

Nodding, Chloe helped the boy onto Lois' back, watching as Lois took off, inhumanely fast.

And yet probably not fast enough, not while burdened with the weight of an eight year old-and weapons.

Looking around her, Chloe climbed up the course exterior of the dwelling and perched on top, having a clear view of everything going on around her.

She reached into her palm and pulled out the bow of light, and an arrow materialized in her other palm.

Arrow to drawstring, Chloe tracked Lois' movements, letting the arrow fly, embedding itself into the throat of a creature that'd been about to jump out in front of her cousin and half brother.

Lois halted as the creature fell dead, and when she saw the golden arrow dissolving, she looked behind her in Chloe's general direction and smirked before turning back and continuing to run, more confident, knowing that Chloe had their back.

Making sure that there weren't any creatures near the duo, the blonde looked around her and took a couple of steps back before charging forwards and jumping forwards, landing on the top of the dwelling in front of her. She stumbled, waiting until she regained her balance before repeating the action, again, and again. She then drew another arrow and fired it at the creatures that'd begun trailing Lois and Sam. She continued this, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, and firing, protecting the two until they reached the rope ladder and Lois jumped onto it, hurrying upwards to where the two soldiers pulled her and Sam up, letting her through the tunnel.

They were going to be safe.

Taking in a deep breath, Chloe turned towards the continued gunfire and jumped down from the rooftop of the crude, stone dwelling, racing back to the team.

Back to Lex.

Bow and arrow morphing into two sais, she threw them, one embedding itself in the back of the head of the creature Carter was struggling with, and the other severing the spinal column of the one that had grabbed Lex from behind and was about to bite into his neck.

The sais disappeared in a glitter of gold, only leaving their victims behind.

Two falcatas emerging from her palms, her fingers closing around the hook-shaped hilts as she threw herself into the battle, slicing at the creatures as they continued to swarm around them.

Lex had apparently run out of ammo as well, because he was wielding his katana with deadly accuracy. "Did you find her?"

They stood back to back, circling.

"It wasn't Louisa, it was Sam." Chloe responded, kicking the head of an injured creature that'd been crawling towards her. "Lois took him to the surface. He says Louisa and John aren't here."

Lex sliced the head off of an attacking creature. "I'm sorry."

"Sir!" Carter looked up. "They've finished delivering the packages!"

"Good." Lex nodded. "Call a retreat. Once we're aboveground we'll send these demons back to hell."

"Yes sir!" Carter nodded before turning to his men. "Fall back to the tunnels! Fall back!"

They fought they way back to the ladders and with the help of those above covering their backs, managed to make it up to the ledge.

They fell back into the tunnels, meeting up at the main entrance to the mound.

The moment the last soldier was out of the mound Lex stood at the entrance, hearing the sound of the creatures racing towards them, and then pulled out the trigger to the bombs they'd had placed all over the underground city and tunnels.

Chloe stood next to him, gazing down into the hole in the ground, her hand finding Lex's free one, their fingers threading together as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

Lex smiled, gaze on the hole as well. "_Boom_." And with that he brought his hand down on the button.

The ground beneath them shook and convulsed as the bombs went off.

A creature appeared, half emerged from the hole, in time for the fire from the explosions to race through the tunnels and up through the hole shooting up into the sky, killing it instantly.

Chloe frowned, feeling Lex's body trembling slightly.

She wrapped her arm around him, supporting him discreetly.

He was _sick_.

He shouldn't have to go through these sorts of things!

And yet he did.

For her.

Chloe looked up at him, heart skipping a beat when she found him smiling down tenderly at her.

"Is it over?" Sam asked Lois.

She nodded, ruffling his hair. "Yeah, they're not going to be hurting anyone anymore."

Lex leaned down and pressed a kiss to Chloe's forehead.

She closed her eyes and just enjoyed it.

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**Review?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/The New Daughter**

_**Sequel to**_: Exit Speed

Warning: Spoilers for The New Daughter.

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Seeing her mother was always going to be a bittersweet experience, Chloe knew that now. And yet as she watched Moira hugging her son tightly, both crying, Chloe could smile. She hadn't been able to do anything about Louisa-the girl's fate sealed from the first moment she'd stepped onto that land-but at least she'd been able to bring back Sam safe and sound. That would have to be enough.

Mother and son pulled away, Moira wiping her eyes before turning to Chloe. "_Thank you_." She moved to hug Chloe.

On instinct Chloe moved back and away from her, seeing the hurt that flashed through her mother's eyes and yet sadly didn't feel anything herself.

There'd been a time, once upon a time, when the little girl had begged her mother not to go, had prayed for her to come back-and that girl had grown up now.

There was no way she was letting Moira anywhere close to her again.

Moira looked away and cleared her throat, turning to Sam. "Honey, I-I want you to know something."

Chloe's eyes narrowed, wondering what the woman was up to.

Sam looked up at his mother expectantly.

"Chloe is your sister." Moira surprised both of them by saying. Chloe hadn't thought Moira would actually tell Sam the truth. "Before mommy married your daddy, she was married to Chloe's daddy."

Sam's eyes were wide as he looked away from his mother to look at Chloe. "You're my sister?"

Feeling a little awkward, Chloe shucked her hands into her jeans pockets and nodded. "Yeah."

He eyed her before turning to his mother. "Why didn't you tell us we had a sister?"

Moira flinched, looking away. "When mommy left Chloe and her daddy she was sad, and just wanted to forget everything and start over."

That was like a slap to Chloe, and she looked away, jaw clenched, pissed off at herself that this woman could still hurt her.

"Is that what you did when you left daddy, Louisa and I? Is that why you didn't come to visit or call anymore?" Sam's voice was odd. "You wanted to forget _us_ too?"

"Honey! _No_!" Moira's voice broke. "I-I-I _love_ you."

Sam's eyes were still narrowed on her.

Chloe desperately wanted to leave, and she started to do so when she felt a hand on hers.

Turning, the blonde was shocked to find that Sam had moved quickly and _quietly_ to her side, and was holding her hand silently, shyly.

"Hey." She smiled down awkwardly at him, not sure what to do or what to say. "Everything okay Little Guy?"

"Louisa and I fought a lot...but I loved her." Sam whispered, gaze lowering before raising. "I never told her."

Chloe smiled sadly, bending to her knees so she could look him face to face. "Some brothers and sisters fight, Sam, especially when they're your ages. But just like you loved Louisa despite it, she loved you too."

"You really think so?" He whispered, looking up at her once more.

Chloe smiled, nodding. "No matter how much they fight, big sisters will _always_ love their little brothers."

Tears filled his eyes and Sam threw himself at her, arms going around her neck.

Shocked, Chloe just stayed there for a second before putting her arms around him and hugging him tightly, finding herself oddly choked.

"I just wish I'd told her that I loved her before she...was killed." Sam whispered.

"She knows." Chloe promised him. "She's looking down at you from heaven and she _knows_."

The blonde didn't know if heaven or hell existed, so she didn't know if she was telling the truth...but it was what the little boy needed to hear, and Chloe wasn't above lying if need be to help him get over this.

So she held him, and purred only soft enough for him to hear, and like a cub he calmed.

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Annabel Drake watched the brother and sister hugging down in the garden from the living room window. She smiled, closing the curtains and turned to where Lois was running a cloth over her Predator Combo Spear, the brunette always taking care of her prized possession with near reverence. Annabel went next to the other woman and collapsed on the seat next to her, leaning over and running her finger carefully over the tip of the weapon.

Lois raised an eyebrow. "Are you _trying_ to get yourself cut?"

"Are you _trying_ to wear that thing down?" Annabel shot back. "You've been rubbing it down for the last half hour."

"That's because _she_ has been here and I need something to do to keep from going out there and telling her a couple of things she needs to hear!" Lois snapped, before taking in a deep breath and going back to polishing the spear. "My mother died when I was a kid, my father sent my little sister off to boarding school and she's a stranger to me now. Chloe's been the only constant thing in my life, and it pisses me off to know that Aunt Moira could just throw her away like that and only remember her when she needed her help."

Annabel was silent, pulling a bright blue streaked strand of hair behind her ear. "My parents died in a car accident when I was eleven, my only other relative was my grandmother and she was in hospice care. Until I came here I really didn't know what a family was anymore." She folded her legs under her. "We're all orphans of fate brought together in a completely dysfunctional family that somehow works."

Lois raised an eyebrow, lips quirking in amusement. "You hide a book of poetry under your mattress, don't you?"

"Oh shut up." Annabel bumped shoulders with the older woman, embarrassed smile on her face. "I'm just _saying_ that you shouldn't feel too bad for Chloe because she's got _us_."

Lois thought that over and smiled. "We _are _kinda awesome."

"Exactly." Annabel nodded, leaning back on the sofa before her gaze landed on a picture of Chloe and Lex. The girl reached over and picked it up, looking at it with a sigh. "They really care about each other."

Lois smiled at the picture. "They have for a long time."

Annabel worried her bottom lip. "You know, when we were in Texas I was really banking on her and Sam getting together. They had this _connection_ and they worked so well together, and it was obvious that they were attracted." She tilted her head, a purple streak falling into her face. "But when I see her with Lex...they just seem...like two halves of the same being."

Lois finally put the Predator Combo Spear on the side table and sidled closer, gazing at the picture. "If it wasn't for the fact that Lex was...sick...they would have been together a long time ago."

"Why wouldn't he let Chloe use her power to heal him while she could still use it?" Annabel frowned. "If she didn't mind losing it why couldn't he just accept it? Doesn't he realize that losing him will hurt her more than losing her ability?"

"You see, Lex is a guy, he doesn't see things the way we do." Lois replied seriously. "Since she was in high school Lex has always put Chloe and her needs before everything else, and for him her power to heal herself is what's kept her alive long enough to even _graduate_-and he's kinda right. Lex has told me himself that he prefers to die a millions times and know she's fine, then to be completely healed and have to bury her one day."

Annabel sighed, resting her head against Lois' shoulder. "That's so _stupid_." She smiled. "And romantic."

Lois chuckled, agreeing. "I don't think Chloe's realized it, I don't even know if _Lex_ realizes it, but I think he's the reason why she can't heal other anymore."

"Huh?" Annabel pushed away, looking at Lois in shock. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Lex's meteor power, or at least part of it, it the ability to somewhat control meteor abilities used against him. But I think he actually has managed to shut off her ability to heal _anyone_ and not just himself. I don't think he realizes he did that. He just didn't want her healing him. He wanted her to have her powers so she could heal _herself_. I think his power saw that as his not wanting her to heal others and only heal herself." Lois admitted, sitting up straighter. "I think, when Lex dies, Chloe's going to find she can heal others again."

Annabel sighed, looking depressed. "It just isn't _fair_."

"Love never is." Lois' gaze went to another frame that had a picture of Chloe, Lex, Lois, and a handsome dark haired guy Annabel had never seen before. "Have I ever told you about the last man I ever fell in love with?"

"Him?" Annabel asked, picking up that frame as well and passing it to Lois.

"Yep." Lois nodded, trailing his face with her fingertip. "Clark Kent. Smallville. Boy Scout. Farm Boy." She smiled somewhat sadly. "He was Chloe's best friend since childhood, and while at first he and I couldn't stand each other...I fell in love with him, and he loved me too, although we never told each other until it was too late."

"Did he die?" Annabel asked, frowning.

"No." Lois shook her head. "He-Clark is an alien, he thought he was the last of his kind, and when he found out there might be more of his kind on a planet somewhere deep in space, he left to find them."

"Alien." Annabel blinked. "Wow."

Lois smiled crookedly, passing the picture frame back to her so she could put it back on the side table. "I didn't tell him I loved him until the night he left, and I selfishly asked him to not go, to stay with me. He couldn't, and I couldn't understand him, I said such _selfish_ things...and I wish that I could have told him I loved him long before that night. I wish that I'd told him _so_ much sooner than that, so we could have had more time together...and that I would have been able to let him go more gracefully than I did."

Annabel placed her hand on Lois' shoulder.

Neither of the women noticed Chloe standing in the front door, listening to them, before closing it and going back outside, heading towards her car, expression determined.

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She knew it was getting late, but she couldn't put it off, she couldn't. Not anymore. She'd put it off for years, and she refused to do it for a minute longer. Even if it blew up in her face and was a complete disaster, Chloe needed to do this.

Entering Lex's home with the key she always had on her, Chloe pulled off her leather jacket and followed the sounds of blows hitting their mark to the gym.

She leaned her hip against the doorway, just watching him as he punched and kicked the sandbag hanging from the ceiling.

It was really amazing, what he was able to do.

According to doctors he should have died months ago, and yet here he was, still fighting, still in very good shape for someone who should be dead.

She could tell he was deteriorating though.

He was paler.

Thinner.

But still, he was in so much better condition than so many men she knew.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" She asked, finally announcing her presence.

Lex stopped and turned towards her, running the back of his leather glove covered hand across his forehead, wiping the perspiration, a smile on his face. "I have adrenaline pumping in my veins. I couldn't keep still. It was driving me insane."

"You need to keep your strength up, Lex." Chloe chided, though there was a tender smile on her face as she entered the room, heading slowly towards him.

"If it was up to you I'd be in bed rest." Lex complained, taking off his gloves and letting them fall to the ground.

"No," she stopped when she was right in front of him, head tilted slightly so she could look up into his face. "If it was up to _me_ I would have healed you, Lex."

He looked away. "Let's not fight about this again. Please."

"I"m not doing this anymore." Chloe whispered.

Lex turned to look at her, eyes narrowed slightly in worry. "Not doing what anymore?"

"Lex, you've been there for me since I was in high school. You've always been there for me. You were there when I had that disastrous crush on Clark, encouraged me, and then you nursed me through my broken heart when I realized he was in love with Lois instead. You were there for me when I came back from Romania mutated, and with Jack-helping him because you knew that he meant a lot to me." She took another step closer. "And then when the caltrop thing happened you supported me even more. When I met Sam you tried to push me to keep into contact with him and pursue a relationship with him."

"Clark, Jack and Sam are all good men." Lex replied, unable to look at her. "I would be happy to see you with a man like them."

"Bullshit." Chloe nearly snapped, eyes filling with her tears. "You _love_ me, Lex Luthor, but you've always kept this line between us and always made me know in your own way that nothing was going to happen between us. I just didn't find out until later that it was because you knew you were sick and that you were going to die."

Lex continued to look away from her, jaw tense.

"You keep trying to push me in the direction of someone else, and I've let you, hell, I fell in love with Jack!" Chloe threw her hands in the air, before looking away. "But today I've heard two separate people lamenting not telling the people they love the truth before losing them, and I _refuse_ to do the same." She looked at him, chin raised, eyes determined even as they filled with tears. "I am _sick_ of pretending that I'm not desperately in love with you...and have been for a _very_ long time."

Lex turned towards her at that, eyes widening. "_Chloe_..."

"No, don't interrupt me." Chloe shook her head. "I'm in love with you, I _adore_ you, and I want to be with you. And I'm not taking no for an answer. I don't care that you're trying to find me some guy to take care of me when you're gone-don't think I don't know that that is what this is all about! I want _you_. You."

Lex just looked down at her.

She reached out and threaded her fingers through his. "I _love_ you, Lex." She swallowed. "And I _know_ you love me too. You love me more than anyone has _ever_ loved me. You loved me enough to not only let me go, but try to _find_ someone for me, to make me happy and protect me. _No one_ else would do that for me, Lex. No one. Not Jack. No one. You might think I don't know but I _do_, and I'm sick of it." She brought his hand to her lips and kissed it. "I've said it a millions times tonight after not saying it for so many years...but I _love_ you...and you're stuck with me from now on."

Tears were beginning to fill Lex's eyes. "Chloe, I-I'm _dying_."

"I know that." She whispered, voice choked.

"I don't know how much longer I have left." Lex's voice choked. "I've already lived longer than I should."

"Then why are we still wasting time?" Tears began to fall down her cheeks.

His gaze was intense on her face as he cupped her cheek, stepping closer, only a breath away. "If I-if I finally have you I-I don't know if I'll ever be able to let you go, Chloe."

She rested her hand over his, trembling. "Who says I want you to?"

Lex made an agonized sound before leaning down and kissing her tears, before pulling away to look down at her. "I _love_ you."

Her heart overfilled and she really started crying, smiling. "I know."

And then she pressed up on her tiptoes and brought her hand behind his head, bringing his lips down to meet hers.

Lex's arms wrapped around her, drawing her to him tightly.

Arching into his body, Chloe couldn't keep from crying, her tears mixing with their kiss, and yet neither pulled away.

And in the brightly lit room, with their eyes closed, neither noticed the way those tears glowed either, entering Lex through their kiss, through his pores from where they clung to his skin as he lifted her and began to stumble towards the guest bedroom next to his gym.

Nope, as Lex lowered Chloe to the bed and tore off his own shirt, working on his belt, neither paid any attention to teardrops.

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**Review?**


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